A new Equality Act came into force on 1 October 2010.
It brings together over 116 separate pieces of legislation into one single Act.
The Act provides a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all.
It provides Britain with a discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society.
The nine main pieces of legislation that have merged are:
- the Equal Pay Act 1970
- the Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- the Race Relations Act 1976
- the Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003
- the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003
- the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006
- the Equality Act 2006, Part 2
- the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007
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There are further elements in the Act that did not come into force in October 2010, but may do in the future.
We await updates from the government on these developments.
Examples are:
- duty to make reasonable adjustments to common parts of leasehold and commonhold premises and common parts in Scotland
- provisions relating to auxiliary aids in schools
- diversity reporting by political parties
- provisions about taxi accessibility
- prohibition on age discrimination in services and public functions
- civil partnerships on religious premises
Elements of the Act that will not be coming into force are:
- dual discrimination: the government has decided not to bring this into force as a way of reducing the cost of regulation to business
- socio-economic inequalities under the Public Sector Equality Duty
We have published guidance to help employers, workers, service providers, service users and education providers understand the Equality Act.
You can find all of our this in our Equality Act guidance section.
Last updated: 19 Jun 2019
The above information is from https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act-2010/what-equality-act
video introduction to the Act .
in-depth guidance for employers, employees, schools and higher and further education providers, and those providing or using services, including clubs, associations and political parties. The Commission will also be producing guidance for students and parents, guides on housing and transport, and guidance around the Public Sector Equality Duties.
To complement the guidance we are also producing a Starter Kit giving a short, accessible summary to the Act to help you understand the essentials of the law. It will offer simple downloadable learning modules taking you through different scenarios as an employer or service provider.
We will be laying the following draft Codes of Practice before Parliament on 11 October: Equal Pay, Employment, and Services and Public Functions.
To find out more and keep up-to-date with all information, events and guidance about the Act please visit the Equality Act area of our website.
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/scotland/
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